Non-Fungus What Now?

Everywhere you look it seems there is someone talking about “NFTs”, or saying things about “crypto” and #bitcoin. There have even been some big news stories that made it into the business section of some mainstream news outlets. One such NFT sale was Christies' auction house sale of a Non-Fungible Token piece of digital art by the artist Beeple for a whopping $69 million. You can see an image of the artwork here, at the Christie’s web site:

"Monumental-collage-by-Beeple-is-first-purely-digital-artwork-NFT-to-come-to-auction"

 Smaller, but also impressive NFT sales have been reported, and big brands like the NHL, NBA, Aston Martin and others all have projects underway to participate in this burgeoning marketplace. Small creators and undiscovered artists are also discovering NFTs, and the strong interest from buyers in the marketplace.

But what the heck is an NFT, and why would anyone buy one? How do NFTs affect my life, and why does it matter? And why am I reading about NFTs in a blog about antiques, art, collectibles and the resale life? Time for another installment of: What Do You Know About That? 

To answer the first part, what the heck is an NFT, I am totally going to plagiarize from www.crypto.com/nft, where they answer the question this way:

“NFT stands for a non-fungible token, which represents unique, irreplaceable assets that live on the blockchain. In-game assets, digital art, and collectible-related projects are the most prominent NFT use cases today. 

In contrast, fungible assets have units that are interchangeable with one another, such as bitcoin or the dollar bill.”

Ahah! I saw it! There in the definition it says collectible-related projects are among the prominent NFT uses today! I think that answers the last part of our questions, ‘why am I reading about NFTs in a blog about antiques, art, and collectibles?’. It is because there is a use case, some valuable utility, in applying the NFT technology and process to real world collectibles (antiques and art, too). The process of creating an NFT that is represented by, say, a work of art, involves documenting key information about the item’s provenance. This information is stored on a network that is very, very, very secure, ensuring that the provenance of the item is visible to everyone, and cannot be altered. The process of creating the NFT also gives the opportunity to describe what rights are associated with the “Token” version of the item, versus the item itself. For example, you might buy an NFT for a piece of art which you think is valuable, but for which you do not want to take physical possession. Or maybe you could buy an object with separable image rights, so that you could license the use of the item’s image.

 At Good Find Stores bringing more access to more buyers at better prices is a basic part of what we are trying to do as a market maker for our community. It is among our company’s First Principles to conserve the wealth and value our neighbors have built; to preserve the history and heritage of artists, artisans and craftsmen; to reuse, recycle, upcycle and repurpose the quality works of our shared history, both distant and recent. We think there is an opportunity to use this growing, innovative technology to improve the value we bring to our community.

 So, at least we have scratched the surface, I hope, on what an NFT is and why you are reading about it in a blog about resale life. But how does it affect your life, and why do NFTs matter? Well, some of that has been answered already, too: if you are a seller at Good Find Stores, we will be adding more marketplaces to our kit of selling tools, which could mean better prices and more liquidity for our sellers. I think, though, even if you are not a seller at Good Find Stores, these NFTs are going to start showing up all over the place, in every part of life, and in places we don’t expect yet. I am sure it won’t be too long before real estate titling is done using NFTs. All kinds of food products will be supported by a digital token that tells you where it came from and what it has been through. Those are just a couple examples.

 If you want to learn more about NFTs while supporting Good Find Stores, check out these books on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate can I earn from qualifying purchases:

“NFT For Beginners: The Ultimate Non Fungible Token (NFT) Guidebook. A Practical Guide to Everything NFT in Everyday Language”

“Ultimate Money Guide to NFT Investing - Non-Fungible token (NFT) for Beginners and Beyond: Easy Step by Step Guide Using Cryptocurrency in Blockchain to Make, Buy, Sell, Trade, and Invest in NFT Crypto”

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